Alone
by Blackiecat
Summary: The Hunter knew prey was in the building when a smoker climbed onto his rooftop for a vantage point, but when he attacks and pins his target he has a strange reaction. He can't kill her, he recognizes her, but why? Full summary inside, Writer's Block.
1. Chapter 1

**Full Summary:** The Hunter knew prey was in the building when a smoker climbed onto his rooftop for a vantage point, but when he attacks and pins his target he has a strange reaction. He can't kill her, he recognizes her, but why? He has to find out, and through the terror and oddity of the whole ordeal she never expected to potentially fall in love with a mad beast.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any component of Left 4 Dead including the different special infected, only the characters which I have personally created. All credit on the infected and anything relating to the game goes to Valve.

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The Hunter. Yes, that is what they call me these days. Ever since the infection hit, I no longer had my own name. We were all classified as the same, and in a way we are. The way we all stalk our prey, intimidating them with low growls and high pitched shrieks, waiting until one straggles behind and we can get it alone. Waiting for the opportunity to crush them to the ground, leaving them helpless while they are torn to shreds. Despite all these similarities however, I am still much different from any other infected I have ever come across.

I still retain some previous knowledge and all conscious thought. I still have emotions.

I do not on the other hand, ever feel hungry.

No, I never eat any surviving human that I brutally murder. I leave it for the rest of those disgusting low breeds to fight over, I have no interest in food. I don't need it to survive, since my body is dead. All I need is my mind and still beating heart. I simply kill for thrill, and that's it.

I also don't rot like many of the others. The lesser infected, fat ones, and long tongued ones all have weak flesh that falls away from them or turns to pustules, making them weaker than I. The only other infected that don't rot I tend to stay away from - the big muscled ones, and the sad scrawny females. I care not for what the latter two are called, I only care that they don't discriminate between infected and non infected – and I'd rather not die again by my own kind.

No... I am indeed different. More alive than the rest, though still as dead. Giving off a ragged sigh, my thoughts on the subject were cut off by a putrid stench that was invading my roof space. Looking behind me towards the ledge opposite of the one I rested on, I noticed a hand clinging onto it. Another infected was pulling itself up, preparing for something that was bound to be coming by soon.

Just my luck. Those stinky, smoking string beans never came up onto a roof unless there was something alive inside the building it belonged on. I smirked menacingly to myself, playing it off that I did not care about his intrusiveness, waiting for him to select a ledge to look over. This infected always knew which way a survivor would go to leave a building, and it was just my luck that he stood next to me and looked down into an alleyway.

As soon as I knew where my new toy would exit into the open, I jumped the other infected catching it quite by surprise and causing it to emit a loud hacking noise.

"Oh God, I can hear a smoker... Where are ya', you grimy bastard?!"

Her voice was quiet, but my superior senses caught her words anyways. So that's what this tongue-thing was called? It didn't matter. I jabbed my claws into it's eye sockets and penetrated the brain, causing the whole thing burst in a puff of greenish smoke. This living one was mine, not his. Quickly the smoke cleared due to a light breeze, much to my gratitude. Stepping off the body I lowered myself to the roof's surface, barely poking my cowled head over the edge to peer down at the ground. I waited patiently for her to exit the building, the ring of gun shots easily keeping me clued in to her current position.

The second floor... I listened carefully, trying to figure out what she was using. Was it one of those guns that shot fast? Or shot slow but hurt real bad? Or was it one of the small ones that didn't really pose a threat? After a few more shots I was sure it was the little gun, maybe two of them at the rate they were shooting. A little more threatening, but a challenge was welcomed. My thoughts were drifting into how that irritating smoker thing that had interrupted my previous, usual chain of thought when the female let out a god awful shriek.

The dummy had fallen through the hole in the floor. If she had hurt herself enough to make it so she was a sitting duck to the rest, I was not going to be a happy hunter. I scowled, listening and waiting. More gun shots, she was fine. For now. What I couldn't understand was why there weren't any others. Why was she alone? How long had it been this way? How had another like himself not gotten to her first?

As my thoughts trailed off, the apartment door just about slammed open, then slammed back shut. Easily audible squeals coming from behind it let me know that a lesser infected wasn't happy about missing a meal. I watched as she sat down against the door a moment to rest, I took in a deep whiff of air, there was fresh blood.

Her blood. Taking a better look, I pinpointed the bloods location to the lower pant-leg of her rather tight jeans. She'd cut her leg. I then looked at her hands, noticing that it was indeed two of those little guns, and she was fumbling to reload them. After a moment they gave off a satisfied click, letting us both know there were bullets ready.

A hand burst through the wooden door and scooting away she shot several times into it, the gurgling from the lesser infected finally coming to a halt. She relaxed, sitting dead in the middle of the alley.

Bad for her, good for me.

I waited a little longer. I wanted her to stand, start walking, so that there was more distance between her head and the ground. So I could stun her long enough to knock away her weapons, and decide what I wanted to do from there. Sometimes, I let them try to fight me off for awhile, especially the small ones like her. She was what, a little over five feet tall? And thin as a rail even. Tiny compared to a monster like myself. I was probably over a foot taller, and at least eighty or ninety pounds heavier. She was a simple target.

Again, it made me wonder how she'd gotten very far alone. That question was answered to me when she burst into tears. She hadn't been alone long, the people she had been fighting with must be dead. Or they could have abandoned her, but the living rarely did that. She only cried for a moment, before stubbornly wiping her face and getting to her feet. Now was my moment!

As I leaped towards her and the ground, I let out a high pitch shriek that not only terrified her, but warned any of the lesser infected to stay away. Direct hit! I nailed her straight into the ground, easily knocking the wind out of her. I ripped the tiny weapons out of her hands and officially pinned her.

Here is where my plan caught a hitch. I knew this girl. I don't know how, but I'd seen her before... I'd made the worst mistake I could have and looked straight into her terror-filled eyes. Brown eyes, that slowly turned green. Her dark, long hair was up in a bedraggled pony tail and her blue shirt had gotten somewhat bunched up in the whole mess.

She was still struggling to breathe, and I saw as her terror suddenly turned to anger. She punched me, hard, it hurt, and it pissed me off. The hood of my dark sweatshirt nearly lost it's grip, and my only response was to snarl at her and pin her arms. She still writhed under me, trying everything to get me off, but she simply wasn't strong enough.

I just looked at her, not sure what to do. Not sure if I could kill her, when I knew how guilty I would feel afterwards. I'd killed countless times before this, why was now so different? What kind of power did this girl have over me?! I didn't like the ideas running through my head and snarled again, this time at myself. It still frightened her enough to still her movements, giving me a moment's peace. I needed an option, and they were in short supply.

I could kill her and just try to forget about it. I could leave her to try and fight her way to safety, though I strongly doubted she'd make it against the other greater infected like myself, or I could take her somewhere I knew she wouldn't die, and where I could try and figure out if how I recognized her. Yeah. The last one was good. I could take her somewhere, and try to figure out who she was and if she was important to me before I became what I am. If I don't figure it out, I kill her, just like that. Yes, this was good.

Pulling her wrists together I jerked her under my arm and crouched, holding onto her tight – I'd go find one of those roof houses where she wouldn't be able to escape, and where there might be enough of what she needs to live for a day or two. A place where no other infected can go without one of those electric crates that carried you up the inside a building. A place that had all the things those "safe rooms" do, like … what were those things called, lights?

Enough thinking, it was time to move. The lesser infected were coming. I leaped from my crouched position, my package still fighting against me. Grabbing a metal pipe with my free hand, I jumped again onto the roof of the neighboring building. I needed to secure her for the trip we were about to take, so she wouldn't fall to her death. That would just ruin my entire plan.

I could put her on my back... but would she hold on? Yes, terror would keep her in place. Since I still had her by the wrists, I slung them around my neck and jumped to the next roof top. She instinctively wrapped her legs around my stomach and tightened her grip around my neck. Wow, I was glad I didn't need to breathe...

Scanning the roofs of the buildings around each one I hopped to, I looked for a bright roof house. It was a good while before I found one, but I was glad when I did. Opening the door I scampered in and broke her terrified grip on me chucking her to the floor. Standing between her and her only exit, she froze. I issued a growl, a warning she was not to leave, but I have no idea if she understood it or not.

It was then that I heard a gurgle, then a scream, and it wasn't coming from her. There were lesser infected here? Probably the previous owners, who were too dumb to know how to leave. I crouched and waited for them to come running, immediately killing the both of them as they exited a doorway. Looking back I saw that she still sat there, looking at the door but unmoving.

Considering her earlier awareness, I was easily a little concerned. Crawling over but keeping my distance, she was simply staring wide-eyed into nothing. That soon ended as she blacked out then and there, curling over onto the floor.

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They were gone. They were _all_ gone. Every one of them. My family, friends, even acquaintances, all dead or... changed. Changed into one of those things, the infected. Not even five minutes ago, I was prowling the streets with my group trying to make it to the next safe house, when one of those gigantic beasts flipped a car – instantly killing the only other female that was with us.

It barreled towards the other two, fear nearly rooting me to the spot. The two boys in the group, Jake and Eric, opened fire on the mutated monster bringing me out of my stupor. It made it to them, smacking Eric into a nearby wall and crushing his skull with a sickening crack. It was then that it grabbed Jake in both it's huge fists and he shouted, "Holly, RUN!"

Some not so-famous last words as I saw it tear my last comrade into two at the waist, a spray of gore littering the streets in front of him. I didn't hesitate to take my friend's advice, and ran. At the time I still had my heavy weapon, and I did the best I could to arm the submachine gun with only one hand. I blindly sprayed a clip behind me as I tore off through the night, and I could hear it roar in anger so I knew at least some of the bullets connected.

The strange crushing and breaking sound alerted me that it had stopped to pull up a chunk of earth to throw my way. It wanted to slow me down. It was then that I took my final molotov, lit it and threw it at his feet. It shattered on the ground and began burning the monster alive... or dead, and left me just enough time to jump to the side and avoid the asphalt block thrown my way.

The fact that it was on fire didn't seem to slow it down much, but I knew it wouldn't stop burning until it died thanks to my only other encounter with an infected like this one. My mind was in a flurry as I climbed back to my feet and started running as fast as I could, forgetting my best weapon on the ground. For awhile I aimlessly ran, until I heard it start to slow down, and it was then that I took one of my pistols out and popped off a few shots – just enough to finish it off.

I'd killed it, but I still didn't feel like I'd avenged my friends in the slightest. If I'd acted sooner, they wouldn't have died. I stared at the huge burning corpse for a short time, shocked at my own accomplishment, before turning tail and heading back down the street, decidedly not waiting for whatever all that racket might attract. I was soon forced to stop when I noticed a large barricade that the army must have built in an final effort to stop the infected, but it was an obvious failure by the number of bodies (both moving and unmoving) strewn about the area.

I took my pistols from their respective holsters, and moved as quietly as I could. I wanted to sneak past them, I didn't want to risk starting a horde. As long as I kept quiet, and out of bright areas, they wouldn't notice me... I hoped. Ducking down the alley to the side, and in the side door of an apartment building, I guessed my best shot at getting to the other side of the barricade relied on me getting to the other side of the building.

The first thing I noticed when I opened the door was a shit-ton of rubble blacking my path – the ceiling had collapsed just past a near stair well, entirely blocking me off. Taking the stairs up a floor, I figured I'd be able to find a way back down to the first floor on the other side of the building. Infected were probably all over in the rooms on either side of me, and all I could think was '_Why did it have to be an apartment building_'? Lots of people lived in these things, and lots of people now meant lots of infected.

Pausing a moment, I did the best I could to keep my cool as I searched for the other stair case. There certainly was one, but the stairs themselves had fallen out. I'd have to backtrack, maybe I could drop through the hole I saw before and land softly enough on the crushed ceiling to get to the other side? From the view my entrance had given me it didn't seem like that far of a drop...

Once I was around halfway back down the hall, I heard a loud thump followed by a hacking noise, which nearly made me jump out of my skin, "Oh God, I can hear a smoker... Where are ya', you grimy bastard?!" I thought I had just muttered it, but an infected in a nearby room screeched in response. His screech only served to alert the rest. Soon two infected popped out the door at the end of the hall to the right, and I wasn't even sure how many behind me. I squeezed off a couple shots, killing the two heading my way and didn't look back as I headed for the room they came out of. It was almost entirely dark, and I apparently didn't stop soon enough as I managed to fall straight through the hole I'd been looking for.

I let out a scream – not in my benefit – and hit the rubble pretty hard, rolling down it onto the side I'd wanted to be on and landing on my ass. The infected piled down after me, and from my now sitting position facing the hole I shot them as they fell down one or two at a time. I could hear more coming behind me so I laid on my back and aimed behind me, shooting and killing them as well.

As I stood, I could hear one more coming from above me. I backed up slowly, noticing a sharp pain in my leg as I did so, and pulled the trigger at the last alerted infected as it dropped through the hole only to get a protestant 'click'.

"Shit."

I turned around and high tailed it, the door that exited out the other side of the building straight in front of me. It hurt to run, but I knew from experience that it hurt worse to be bitten and clawed. I carelessly slammed the door open, then slammed it back shut in my assailant's face. Sitting down with my back to it, I clumsily tried to reload my pistols. Just as I managed to complete the task, it's hand broke through the not-so-cheap wood of the apartment door. I slid away, firing three or four shots into the door, until the noises it made stopped.

I sighed in relief, knowing I'd only just barely made it out of there. At that moment, the fact that I was truly alone started to hit me. I couldn't help it, I burst into tears, but as soon as I'd done so realized I needed to stop. The racket might attract more of those _things_, and I was only making myself vulnerable. Wiping my face off, I let out a resolute sniffle and climbed to my feet. It was then that I heard it, that blood chilling scream that could only come from one being.

The Hunter.

I slammed hard into the ground, onto my back. My head smashed against the ground and probably would have cracked open if it weren't for my mussy ponytail to cushion the blow a little. I felt like I couldn't breathe, couldn't see, and almost didn't notice the guns get ripped out of my hands. All I could do as I stared terrified into the assumed location of my attackers eyes was prepare to die, thinking to myself, '_Sorry I didn't make it for you, guys_.'

The ensuing blood bath never came. I didn't get it, what the hell? Why wasn't he killing me? Fuck that, I wasn't going to give him a chance to decide. As I caught my breath, I balled up my fist and nailed him as hard as I could in the face, trying to knock him off of me so I could get up and either shoot him or run. He didn't even budge, god _damnit_ why did I have to be so small and weak?! Instead, he snarled, entirely pissed off. He grabbed my wrists and forced them against the ground, leaving me with nothing other than to struggle as best I could.

I didn't look at his face again. I couldn't see the fun in it as he tore me apart – when he finally decided to – when he snarled again and I gave up. I was only serving to make him more angry, and if I didn't piss him off maybe there was a snowball's chance in hell he would get off and leave me. Generally lose interest, or decide he wasn't hungry... He held me there for what felt pretty damn close to forever, before forcing both my wrists into one of his hands and shoving them against my stomach.

He flipped me and held me under his arm, crouching for a moment as if he was rethinking things, then sailed off against the side of the building. If I'd had the ability to breathe at that time, I would of screamed. It almost felt like sailing through the air had sucked all the air out of me that I had worked so hard to get back. All I could do was flail around in his useless grip for the task and pray he didn't ram my head into a wall like it was a game. Fortunately he didn't, instead he landed on the rooftop of the building next to the apartment and pulled my clasped wrists around his neck. It was during this shift that I noticed the body of the smoker, it's eyes gored out. I hadn't done that... had the Hunter done it? Or another survivor maybe? Neither idea really made sense to me, but I stopped worrying about it the instant I felt us sail through the air again.

My first reaction was to hold on tight, so I didn't fall. I'd rather entertain the idea that he was going to keep me alive a little longer than plunge six stories to my death right now. He pounced around from building to building for what seemed like ages, until he finally decided to stop. My eyes were shut tight, and I was so messed up by my own thoughts and the feeling of having just been on a really tipsy amusement ride that I didn't realize where I was until he clumsily tossed me onto the floor in front of him. He issued a low growl, presumably at me, then crouched for some reason and pounced a moment later. I didn't care why.

When he'd moved, it was then that I saw how high up I really was. I could see a lot of the city through the sliding door, and most of that was the rooftops. A million thoughts were running through my head at the same time, '_I'm alone in an inescapable building with a blood thirsty killer, my friends are dead, my family is dead, __**everyone**__ is __**dead**__, and soon, __**I'm**__ gonna' be dead_."

Finally my mind and body couldn't take it anymore, and everything faded to black.

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**A/N: It's likely that each chapter of this fiction will be written this way, with a bi-perspective of the same event through each character's eyes. I wanted to develop each character emotionally for you readers out there, and leave the mystery to "when are they going to figure each other out". I really hope you like it L4D fans, 'cause it's my first fic in this genre. :) Next chapter should be out a week from today. R&R**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any component of Left 4 Dead including the different special infected, only the characters which I have personally created. All credit on the infected and anything relating to the game goes to Valve.

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For awhile I just stared at her, not entirely sure what to do. Should I leave her there, or move her? If I moved her would she wake up and try fighting me again? If I didn't move her, would she wake up screaming and scared, or wake up angry because she was … what was the word, uncomfortable? I could feel myself frowning, the idea of getting socked in the mouth again didn't sound too appealing. That blow she'd gotten in on me when I'd pinned her in the street hadn't felt all that great.

In the end, I decided to move her, but the smell of the two dead lesser infected caught my nose. That definitely had to go first. Yuck. Turning my back to her just long enough to pounce over and grab one of the bodies, I got a bad feeling. What if there was one of those gun things inside the house? I wouldn't be able to turn my back on her until I found it and got rid of it, or at least assured myself there wasn't one here.

I'd only look away when she wasn't awake for now. Slinging the body I had grabbed on to over my shoulder I bound over to the door, stepping around the girl and opening it. I jogged over to the waist-high ledge that was apparently supposed to keep people from falling, and chucked my package right over it. I hopped back inside and repeated the process with the remaining dead undead, then closed the door and eyeballed her once again.

If I was going to move her I should probably put her on one of those square soft things. A bed. They had one here right? Crawling into the room the couple had come from, I noticed it indeed had a bed, and a couple adjoining rooms. I didn't care what was in them, just that the girl had a place where she wouldn't wake back up screaming or doing something that would attract attention. Turning around, I stood and moved towards her.

When I reached down to pick her up, I almost wasn't sure how to do it - I wasn't going to be as rough with her as I was with the lesser infected. Besides, I was an expert at putting people on the ground, not getting them off it. It would have been easier if she was awake and could hold on like before we'd gotten here or could just walk there on her own. I also didn't want to drag her, what if it woke her up and she started screaming? That would attract any lesser infected in the building, and they might have a way of getting up there. I've seen them climb before.

The more I thought about it, the realization that I'd seen survivors carrying each other before hit me. I'd carry her like they carried each other, that would work fine. I crouched down, sliding one arm under her knees and the other around her back, then stood. I walked over through the doorway, careful not to hit her head on it, then laid her down on the bed. I then retreated back into the corner to watch and wait, my mind drifting back into thoughts on how I was going to make this work.

Not too long into it, I started feeling tired myself. Yeah, that's right, I sleep too, though I didn't want to. She could easily wake up and try to sneak away... but would she, when she didn't have anything to fight the other infected with?

The gun thing! I'd almost forgotten! Slinking out of my corner, I started searching the tables near the bed. They had sliding compartments which I checked in as well, carefully searching every crevice for the object that could present me and my plan with harm. I opened the door to one of the adjoining rooms, which happened to be one of those shiny white rooms, and searched the wall cabinet. Nothing there either.

I went to the other door in the same room, and opened it to see hanging clothes and shelves. A closet. Standing up the shelves were easily within my reach, and searching through the different boxes I wasn't finding anything. A sudden rustle alerted me that she might be waking up, and I stopped looking around and went to back into the room.

She rolled around, first onto one side and then onto the other, mumbling something incoherent. Senseless words, the living didn't say those when they were awake. Was she still sleeping? I moved in, looking closer. Her face was contorted in discomfort, and she continued to talk slowly making more sense.

"No.., stop, don't do it..."

Her struggles were getting a little more violent with whatever her invisible foe was. I figured she was dreaming, I'd done that a couple times.

"You big ugly monster..."

Was she talking about me? She was crying now. I hadn't realized how close I'd gotten until she suddenly opened her eyes with me right in her face. She started screaming and yelling before I was could react, jumping on her and pushing her mouth closed. She was still fighting against me, still crying. Pushing at my shoulders.

I growled at her, and bared my teeth, remembering how quiet she'd become last time, and physically she seemed to calm down. She quieted down, too. I slowly backed off of her to the floor at the edge of the bed, crouching and waiting for her to do something. I'd have to watch her constantly, I never found a gun and hadn't finished my search. There could still be one around somewhere.

Sitting up she looked down at me, "What do you want from me anyway?"

It was then that I had a rather shocking epiphany, how were we going to communicate with each other?! I understood her language, but that didn't mean I could speak it anymore! I didn't know how to answer her, so all I could do was sit there and wait for her to do something else.

"Of course you won't answer, you don't know how to talk."

Good, she figured it out, that made things easier... Even if only slightly.

"Well... I'm going to go use the bathroom. Don't follow me in there, okay?!" She gave me an accusing look, which I didn't understand at all. What's a bathroom? She looked around the room, and saw the open doorway leading into the white shiny room. She looked back at me and slowly got up, backing towards it. Was that the bathroom?

There wasn't a way out from in there... So I didn't have to worry about her going in there alone. Plus I'd searched there, for a gun, and hadn't found one. I didn't need to worry about that either. I'd just have to listen for when she decided to come back out, and use the opportunity I was given to go back to looking for a gun.

I went back to the closet first, and finished looking around in there. I looked in lots of different compartments and under chairs in the main room, just about everywhere, when I finally found it. A small gun, like the one's she'd had before, in the soft cushion of a chair. I heard her coming out of the 'bathroom', and was forced to act quickly. I bound over to the door and opened it, then threw the thing as far as I could. It sailed, right over the edge of the building and down to the street below.

Her last chance at hope was gone, and she didn't know it. Good. I came back in and shut the door. When I didn't see her in the main room, I suddenly felt worried that she'd made an escape. I dashed back to the room with the bed, to be sure she was still in the roof house. I saw her by the closet wrapped up in something fuzzy. A towel. She turned and looked at me, gasping when she realized I was there. Bending down, she picked something up off the floor.

A swift dodge meant the object she'd thrown at me very narrowly missed my head. She kept throwing things my way yelling, "Get out, get out!" What the hell was her problem?! The multitude of objects she was throwing and the noise she was making was easily getting on my nerves as well as putting us both at risk, so I did what I would have done to anything else that bothered me.

I pounced her. She crashed down onto the floor, and I held her there by her wrists, growling a warning at her to knock her behavior the hell off. She continued to struggle against me, which left me confused. She always got still when I growled at her, why didn't she now?

Looking around us I noticed that the towel she'd been wrapped up in was on the floor about a foot away. Then I looked down at her and oh jeez she was naked.

That's why she was angry. I'd almost forgotten how much dignity and modesty that the female living had over their bodies. This wasn't good, she'd probably put a lot more effort into trying to escape now that I'd... uh, violated her. Something was going on between my legs. Erg, this was just too uncomfortable! Letting go of one of her arms I was reaching for the towel to cover her when I received a well deserved slap to my right cheek.

She was punching at me, my arms and chest, desperately trying to get free. I ignored it all as I grabbed the towel and threw it on her, immediately jumping away and retreating out the doorway to duck behind some furniture. I eavesdropped on her from there, I could hear her crying and I could smell her fear and anger. I felt... guilty? I paced back and forth on all fours, listening to her and progressively feeling worse. I eventually snarled and dug my claws into the couch I was behind, shredding out a decent chunk of stuffing.

I was screwing everything up. If things got much worse than this I'd give up on it and kill her. I crouched and rested there, avoiding looking into the doorway but still keeping my ears trained on her. I heard a couple slamming noises, like she was hitting something, but ignored it. As much as I wanted to know why she had such a profound effect on me, I hadn't planned on making myself so miserable in the process.

I'd rather kill her than let her make me feel this way.

Eventually I heard the creaking noises that a bed made when someone climbed on it, and over time her breathing slowly became more relaxed. With that, I relaxed too. The storm had passed, for now.

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_It was happening, all over again. As the tank made it's entrance the car that was flung so easily into the air crushed Emily like a rolled up newspaper did a fly. _

_Within a second I saw Eric get punched into a nearby building, crushing his skull. The blood spatter and brains coating the brick so vivid I wanted to wretch. The tank then turned to Jake who was still pounding him with bullets, and gripped him in its huge meaty fists, "No, stop, don't do it!" _

_I couldn't watch, I turned away only to face the same scene I hadn't wanted to see. It tore Jake in half, his insides spraying all over me. I writhed under them, they were so heavy, and they moved like snakes. Looking down, I could Jake's bloody intestines wrapping around me and leaving me constricted._

"_You big ugly monster!"_

_I was so terrified I began to cry. When I looked up again, the tank was ablaze. How...? He was some thirty feet away reaching into the ground and pulling up an asphalt block. He threw it and I flopped to the side, still bound by Jake's insides and very nearly getting crushed. I wanted to escape it all. For the nightmare to be over. I couldn't move, he was thundering closer and closer..._

Then I woke up. When I opened my eyes, all I could see was sweatshirt, nose, and mouth. Where was I, what had happened? I started freaking out, shouting and moving away from the stranger at the side of my bed. Before I knew it he was on me, holding me down and forcing my mouth shut. I bit my tongue. I struggled for a moment before I heard the growl.

That's right, I'd been kidnapped by a Hunter. I almost wished I was still dreaming. I needed to calm down, keep under control. Taking a deep breath, I relaxed and he climbed back down onto the floor. He had the power right now, not me... but that didn't mean I couldn't be a smart-ass. I sat up and looked down at him, "What do you want from me anyway?"

He continued to sit and stare at me, I rethought my question and rolled my eyes, "Of course you don't answer, you don't know how to talk."

I was trying to smack talk a fucking zombie, ugh. Was I going crazy? Probably. Either way, I really, really needed to pee.

"Well... I'm going to go use the bathroom. Don't follow me in there, okay?!"

Why was I still talking to him? Like he knew what the hell I was saying. Looking around the bedroom I noticed that there was an attached bathroom – how convenient! I moved off the bed, shooting him a dirty look, and never taking my gaze off him to make sure he didn't follow. I backed my way through the doorway, closed and locked the door, then dashed for the toilet. Sweet relief..!

Getting my mind off my bladder, I looked for a window. Of course, there wasn't one. Shoot, that was a bust. Feeling disappointed I sighed, and a really nasty smell hit my nose. At first I didn't know what it was, then I tried smelling my shirt. Gross, it was me who stunk! I needed a shower.

Actually, a shower sounded really good right now. So irresistibly divine. I tried the water, and it worked. If I was in a penthouse, it must have a private well – separate from the rest of the building. A private generator too, so that the rich bastards living in it still had all their luxuries during a storm. It was a good while before the water got warm, but once I had the temperature where I wanted it I pulled the shower tab and closed the curtain.

As I yanked off my shirt I could hear the hunter digging around out in the kitchen and living room. I wondered what he was doing out there, easily coming to the conclusion that he was breaking stuff. Oh well, it didn't matter. As I went to take my pants off, I noticed that they were sticking to the skin on my leg. Either I'd gone through something gooey or... I'd hurt myself. That's right, when I'd fallen through the hole in the floor I'd scratched my lower leg on the rubble. Leaning in for a closer look, I saw that it had closed up. Nothing too severe, that was comforting. I'd look for a medical supplies to cover it with once I was done washing up – I couldn't have it getting infected.

Pulling out my ponytail, I finally hopped in. Oooh, the water felt sooo goood! There was still shampoo, conditioner, and body soap. All the different things I needed to get clean – including a shower puff. The people who'd lived here must not have tried escaping the city, or maybe they were early turners? Either way, they hadn't packed up a bunch of stuff and left, and the place hadn't been raided from what I could tell.

Probably wouldn't be raided. That got me thinking about how the likelihood of a survivor pack coming by to save me had just dropped to negative one. I needed to take this time alone to think about how I was going to solve my hunter problem. Really there was only a couple things I could do – figure out what he wanted from me, or try and escape. Escape sounded better. Or maybe I could do both... work on an escape plan while playing along?

I didn't have a weapon, but there might be one around the house somewhere. I'd keep my eyes peeled for it, and look around when he left to go do... whatever hunters need to do. Like kill people and eat them. The image of the bottom half of his face came to mind, and I shuddered, wishing he'd shredded me to death back in the street. I hated being confused, and now was one of those times.

If I found a gun and killed him, there wouldn't be much I could do unless I could get out of the building. I should see if there's a private elevator – there likely was – or a fire escape. Some way to get down off the top of the building after I was alone. Alone... that word sparked a lot of bad feelings. No, I couldn't think about my friends now! I needed to get clean, get out, get dressed, and concentrate on my own survival.

Finishing my shower, I got out and saw one small towel hanging on the back of the door. Seriously? And I was not going to put my nasty dirty clothes back on. I sighed and dried off, wrapping myself up in it as tightly as I was able. I could probably find clothes in a closet or dresser to wear until I could get my own clothes clean. First though, I needed to take care of my leg. Fishing through the medicine cabinet, I found some gauze and medical tape. Going to work, I wrapped the gauze around the wound then taped the top and bottom – that would do for now.

Just as I opened the door and walked out of the bathroom, I saw the hunter dash out the doorway. Where was he going? It didn't matter, it gave me time to find clothes and start looking for a way out of here. I went to the closet first, to see if there were any dresses – anything that hinted at there being a woman who used to live here. If I could avoid men's clothes, I would. Seeing a couple expensive-looking dresses I was relieved. As I turned to go check the dresser, I gasped in surprise when I saw the hunter staring at me from across the room.

That pervert! Grabbing a shoe I threw it at him, pissed that he would just burst in on me when I was mostly naked, "Get out, get out!"

He was quick, dodging all of the shoes, and obviously not taking the hint. As I bent down to pick up yet another projectile, I got knocked to the floor, effectively tossing the towel off of myself as I flailed my arms in surprise.

Oh my God, I'm ass naked under a hunter! Is he gonna' rape me? When that thought went through my mind I was terrified to the bone, and started trying all that was in my power to throw him off me. There wasn't much I could do, seeing as he had me by the wrists. It wasn't long before he growled at me, like usual, but I wasn't relenting this time. Not when he was gonna'... no! I could feel something growing warmer against my stomach and it damn near confirmed my suspicions.

As he let go of my left arm, I did the first thing that came to mind and slapped him. He didn't even flinch, but I kept hitting him anyways, unable to look at him out of fear. Suddenly I felt the wet towel land over my upper body and his weight lifted off me. I sat up so I could yell at him some more, but he'd already gone.

Okay, now I was really confused. He didn't... do anything? I burst into tears, flooded by a sudden array of different emotions. I was afraid of him, and afraid that I was going to die. I was angry for letting myself get into this situation and angry he'd see me naked (enough to punch the wall a couple times). On the other hand, I was glad he hadn't done what I'd thought he was going to do.

Still crying, I quickly dug through the dresser and started pulling on whatever I found. The only women's underwear I saw happened to be thongs, but it was better than nothing. The cups for the bras were too big, so I let that slide. I pulled on a too-big T-shirt and a pair of soft pajama pants that fit the waist but were too long in the legs.

I was tired, and depressed. I just wanted to sleep, or die. Or die in my sleep, that would have been better. The chances of me getting out alive felt slim to none as I crawled into the bed and got under the covers, pulling them up over my head. I wished the infection had never happened, and that I was at home in my own bed with a stuffed animal to keep me company. Unfortunately, that's not how things were, but I couldn't just accept it all at the drop of a hat. In only a couple of minutes, I managed to cry myself back into a fitful sleep.

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**A/N: Here we are, chapter two. :) I'm not 100% sure how I'm going to go about the continuance of this story, but I'm going to do the best I can to keep you readers happy. I'd greatly appreciate some constructive criticism, and I'd also like to say thank you to everyone who's read this fanfic. Chapter 3 should be up Thursday next week – keep it cool.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any component of Left 4 Dead including the different special infected, only the characters which I have personally created. All credit on the infected and anything relating to the game "Left 4 Dead" goes to Valve. Credit for the Penthouse idea goes to Mihoyonagi and her story "Plaything".

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When I opened my eyes, the first thing that met me was surprise. When had I fallen asleep? Pushing myself up, I noticed that daylight was coming in through the sliding door leading out onto the roof. I had slept through the night... It had been a long time since I'd done that. Looking around, I saw the piece of upholstery and stuffing that had been forcibly removed from the couch laying across the carpet, remembering what happened.

I started feeling terrible all over again, she probably hated me more than ever – how could I fix that? She'd want to get away more than ever now... Panic struck me, was she still here? I dashed to the bedroom doorway, being a little more cautious about my entrance this time, and peeked in. She was here, asleep in the bed. I wanted to go in and see her again, though I knew going in might be a bad idea. I crawled into the room, my curiosity getting the better of me. Climbing up onto the foot of the bed, careful not to jostle her, I stared down her form.

She looked so small and fragile. Innocent, even. That feeling I'd had the first time I'd downed her in the street crept up my chest. I didn't recognize it, all I knew was that it took away any of my innate desire to do her harm. It also renewed the longing to remember what importance she'd held in my past life, if there was any.

I sighed as I thought more about the idea of knowing life outside of mine as a hunter. I couldn't really remember anything about who I used to be: My name, or how old I was. All I could really recall were the names of most objects and the language I used to speak – even if I couldn't speak it anymore. I guess things like that are hardwired into the brain so deep that not even the infection is able to remove it. I hated what I had become, I hated that I'd had humanity stripped from me... I wanted it back. Desperately.

Maybe she had the power to return it to me, by reminding me of something I used to have. As I looked at her again, that feeling came back. I couldn't remember what it was, but I decided it was good, that I liked it. I started smiling as I watched her, even as she started to wake up. The first thing she did was stretch, her feet coming in contact with my knee and causing her to pause.

I just watched her face, confusion passing it as she continued to feel my knee through the blankets with her toes. She groggily opened her eyes and looked back at me, freezing a moment. I waited for something to happen, but nothing did. She simply sat up and stared at me. We locked gazes for a short while, before she got out of the bed and went into the bathroom. I waited there for her, watching the door.

She came back out a few minutes later, and the staring match resumed. That good feeling suddenly left me and was replaced with uneasiness, it was... awkward, "I'm... hungry."

Thank God, she not only broke the silence but gave me an excuse to vacate the room. I got down off the bed and walked past her, standing just outside the doorway. The living kept food in... kitchens. Yes. Straight ahead of myself I could see the... refrigerator, and... cupboards. I felt nostalgic as I started digging through the different cabinets, looking for something she'd be able to easily eat. I noticed a tall green can, and grabbed it to have a look. There was a picture of a white-faced man with a mustache on it, these were … Pringles! I knew what these were, I knew I had liked eating them at one time.

I scampered back to the room she was in and stood next to the bed, off all fours for a change, and held out my peace offering. The unimaginable joy I felt at having learned something new about my previous self had given me a small sliver of hope that maybe this was the girl I'd needed to meet in order to re-discover humanity. She was sitting at the head of the bed, and hadn't taken the can from me yet.

I crouched down, looking around the can at her. She was... surprised? I prodded her arm with the top of the can, urging her to take it. The sudden contact seemed to shake her out of her reverie, and she slowly took the can from me and looked at it.

"You can... Understand me?" I looked up at her, and recalling a gesture I nodded. Had she not known that? She'd talked to me before on several occasions... Either way, it was a good thing that she knew I understood what she said. She would probably talk more, maybe I could even talk back by making gestures. I watched her as she eyeballed the can, anxious to see if she approved. I was getting really nervous, my excitement was fading fast.

When she smiled, I was relieved, "I love these. Thank you..." She was thanking me? I grinned, she'd accepted my peace token. This was definitely a step forward. I sat by the side of the bed, observing her as she quickly snarfed the chips. It wasn't long before the can was empty and she was recapping it. I waited there, and she looked back at me. Unsure of what to do I simply sat there, looking back. I watched her as she looked around, and on the short table next to her there was a rectangular object with buttons on it.

She picked it up and pointed it at a black box, which suddenly began flashing and making noises. The sudden noise caught me a little off guard, but I wasn't startled enough to attack it. She sighed and shut it off, "It figures that the T.V. Doesn't work." T.V... so that's what the flashing box was called. I stared at it's silent frame, wondering what it was supposed to do, or used to do for people. I couldn't remember, so I let it go for the time being.

The awkward silence resumed. I wish I could say something or make some noise that _wouldn't_ cause a problem. Once again she took care of that when she stood up and walked out of the room, with a slight limp. I was curious about her leg, because I know she injured it in the apartment building, but I wouldn't bother her for now. Instead I just followed her out into the living room.

She was looking around in utter disdain. At what? What was wrong with the place? It was warm, lit, and safe. What more did she want? I watched as she went around, picking up the mess and debris caused by my not so conservative search for the gun last night. It was almost amusing to watch her stumble around, the pants she had on were way too big for her and every now and then she'd step on the bottom of the legs and nearly trip.

Soon all the garbage collected into a pile in the middle of the floor, including chunks of stuffing from the back of the couch and the floor around the chair. Something about her cleaning even was familiar. Just the way she was doing it. Once things were mostly picked up, she went back into the kitchen area. I continued to watch her, and saw as she picked up a large plastic bucket.

Apparently she found something she didn't like, because she immediately backed away from it covering her face and coughing, "Oh God, that's awful, that's so bad!" What? What was bad? I crawled over and sat on my haunches next to it, what's inside? I lifted the lid up a fraction and peered in. It looked like a boomer puked into a big plastic can, but what was so awful? I tried smelling it, and it was one of the biggest mistakes I had made in my hunter lifetime. I wanted to wretch, I dropped the lid and scrambled away from the evil plastic contraption. I wanted to destroy it, but I knew breaking it open would just get that crap inside it everywhere, making it miserable for the girl.

"You don't like that either huh?" She laughed a bit. It was not funny! "How about we get rid of it? You might want to cover your nose though." I watched as she pulled her shirt up over her face and start to pull the lid off. I leaped into action, nearly slamming it back down on her fingers. She jumped back in surprise. Who knew what was inside there!

She grabbed my hand and pulled it away, "Just trust me, and cover your face. I'm gonna make it go away."

I looked up at her, unsure, but I was gonna try and trust her for a minute. I backed up and stuffed my face in my arm, not that I needed to. Another moment where optional breathing was a gift. She pulled the lid off real fast and I could see that there was a bag between the junk and the plastic bin. She tied up the bag and removed it from the can. I don't even wanna know what's in there. She moved quickly, going for the sliding door.

I just about panicked, was she going to try and run? I held my ground, If she was going outside I would not let her out of my sight. I could chase her down if she tried to get away, she wouldn't get far. She booked it towards the edge of the building and with some effort managed to get the bag over and out of sight. Turning around she hustled back towards me and back inside, shutting the door.

"There see? It's gone. It's still a little smelly, but it's gone..." I removed my arm from my face and watched as she then dug around in the kitchen for a bit until she found a new bag, putting it in the plastic can, "Ta-dah!" She smiled at me.

…

Had she forgotten about last night so soon, after cleaning and a can of pringles? Did something as simple as getting rid of that stinking gooey mess make her happy? Maybe I was in luck after all. I tried to relax for a little bit as she loaded the pile she'd made on the floor into the canister. Was that what it's purpose was supposed to be, for holding garbage? Ding ding, another light went off in my head. The plastic thing is a garbage can!

Something about sitting here, watching her clean the apartment felt so natural. Like it was something that I had experienced a hundred times over, yet something didn't quite feel right. Letting my instincts decide, I approached and started helping her to load up the garbage can. Yeah, that felt better. Perfect almost.

For awhile we worked in silence together. I looked up at her a few times to observe her expression, though she didn't pay it any heed. Soon all of the garbage scattered around the living room area was collected, and she tied the bag up and brought it outside. She pushed it up over the edge, then held it there for a moment before finally dropping it. This time she stayed to watch it fall, I simply stayed back and watched her. As she returned, she was laughing. Why though? Curiosity was once again taking hold.

It wasn't like I could ask, and she didn't bother to explain. She went back into the kitchen again, putting a new bag into the garbage can and this time opening up the refrigerator. Once more she was throwing things away. Going from the fridge to the freezer, from cupboard to cupboard, the bag was full again in no time and the process repeated. The entire time I watched her, that small content smile never came off her face.

It took her some time, but it never got boring. Before I knew it, all of the garbage and broken pieces of furniture and formerly precious belongings was gone, tossed over the edge of the building into the streets below. Watching her almost felt like watching my past self, the simple human things that I must have done before hell came to Earth.

The place was clean as a whistle compare to the rest of the city, yet it didn't seem to be enough to her just yet. Soon she had a towel and a bottle full of some unknown liquid. She sprayed it onto the surfaces of solid furniture, wiping away all of the stories that the built up grime had to tell. I chose to breathe in and the smell that hit me brought back a rush of memories so potent I would've collapsed, had I not been sitting at the time.

_I was watching myself through my own eyes. My face was not visible to me, only the back of my head. She was there, the human girl, with a bottle and a towel. Two sprays later and the towel met the surface of the coffee table, wiping away any dust. She was smiling, laughing, with me. _

_Then I had the bottle, and the towel. The dust on the television screen became victim to a lemony scent and a fate soon to be known well by the washing machine in the basement. Pressing a button, the T.V. Sprung to life, people living dramatic and romantic lives through half an inch of convex glass. _

_We were looking at each other again, she approached me and wrapped her arms around my shoulders. Her hand came to my face, her lips came to mine. She spoke a few words, the look on her face bringing my heart to skip a beat._

My eyes flew open, and the scene was gone.

The scent of lemons remained.

I stood and walked over to her, watching as she destroyed the dust on the coffee table. I leaned down and took the bottle and the towel from her hands, then turned and went to the television. I sprayed the contents of the bottle onto the screen, exactly as I had just seen my previous self do, and wiped it clean. I pushed the same button, but only static reached my ears.

No woman and man, telling each other how much they were in love, only to be having a fight a moment later. I turned and looked at her, desperately begging her with every fiber of my being to see the same scene in her head as I had seen in mine.

She came to me, a second time, but the look on her face was different. She was confused. Reaching up for my hood, her tiny hands latched onto the edges. Terror. I pushed her back, and she stumbled and fell onto her rear end. I dropped the cleaning supplies and crouched down, putting my hands on my head. The look on her face told me she understood.

Not yet.

Not yet...

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Peace... It's been awhile since I've found that anywhere. The way I felt as I woke up this morning, so much more refreshed than I'd been in such a long time. Stretching, my foot hit the bottom of the bed. That's weird, this is a big bed. I probed whatever it was with my toe, the bottom of the bed is not lumpy...

Groggily opening my eyes, he was there again. Shit I'd almost forgotten everything that had happened last night. I froze as all the good feelings were washed away, replaced with dread. The only words passing through mind mind at the moment were, '_No escape, no escape_...'

Sitting up, intending to put a little more space between the two of us, I stared into the general direction of his eyes. It was almost like his gaze was piercing into my soul, even though his eyes weren't visible. Finally noticing that my bladder was screaming bloody murder I got off the bed and went into the bathroom.

Relieving myself, I needed time to think about what was going on. Obviously, fighting this probably wasn't the right answer. It had led to disaster time and time again. Maybe being here wouldn't be so bad... I wasn't fighting unending hordes of infected anymore. I didn't have to worry about getting crushed by a tank, or diced by a witch.

I only had to worry about one thing, and that was the Hunter. One thing was way better than a hundred things. Plus there were so many luxuries here, a working shower, a toilet, electricity... and food. Hopefully. At this thought, my stomach gave a roar of displeasure. Frowning, I finally got off of the can and pulled my pants up. Washing my hands and brushing my hair I stepped out.

He was still there, sitting on the foot of the bed. As we stared at each other another thought came through my mind, '_Can I handle this?_'

"I'm... hungry."

He stood, almost in a hurry and brushed passed me out into the living room. Probably going to break more stuff, or something. Or maybe he... No. Not possible.

Although, just maybe...

I went and sat back down on the bed. Looking out the doorway and watching as he looked into the kitchen for a minute. Before long, he was in there rummaging around through the cupboards.

'_No way. No __**fucking**__ way_.'

Soon he'd found something, and eccentrically scuttled my way with it in his hands. He sat next to me on the floor and held it out to me.

It was a can of God damn Sour Cream and Onion Pringles. I was so blown away I wasn't even sure if that's exactly what they were at the moment. All I knew was the can was green, and the green can was the good can. Familiarity washed over me, but I brushed that off at the thought of his understanding me took priority.

The Pringles being pushed into my arm brought me out of my mind and back into real time.

"You can... Understand me?" I watched as the expressions his mouth displayed changed, and he settled on a nod.

A damn nod.

'_Holy shit_.'

I watched as that happy yet somewhat creepy grin on his face started fading away, changing into a frown that was a perfect replica of anxiety and fear. Him being nervous about something as simple as this was so ironic, it made me smile. I took the can from him and thanked him. That's the proper thing to do right?

"I love these. Thank you."

Popping the can open, I greedily dug in. It wasn't hard to eat these things fast, although some of the sharp pieces scratching down my throat made me slow down. Before I knew it, the can was void of chips, and thirst was taking over.

Ignoring it for now, I grabbed the T.V. remote off of the end table next to me and pressed the power button. All I got was protestant static in return. Next to me, he jumped in surprise at the sudden noise, "It figures that the T.V. doesn't work." While he was busy looking from it to me I shut it off, watching as he stared at it.

We were back to just sitting here in silence, minus the staring this time. So awkward... I couldn't take it. Getting up, he stepped to the side out of my way, and I walked out of the room. As I took the first few steps, I could feel the cut on my leg groaning in protest with the new movement. I hadn't noticed it before when I went to the bathroom, probably because I needed to pee so bad. Cuts were always like this when they haven't been moved in awhile, but I knew the pain would subside; but as I really looked at the living room for the first time, I was in shock

Oh my God the place was a fucking disaster. There was shit strewn everywhere, pieces of furniture lopped off now rested idly on the floor. It was beyond unacceptable the status this home was in. No, I would not live in a shit hole, not even for five fucking minutes.

I got to work immediately, collecting all garbage and loose debris into a pile. At first it was annoying with how often I tripped on the bottom of my pants, but soon I adjusted. It wasn't long until I'd gotten all of the big pieces together. I went on over to the garbage and started to lift the lid off so I could throw all that shit away and my God did I regret it. All of the food garbage that had been thrown away before the place's owners died must have been sitting there for at least two and a half weeks or more. It was horribly rotted, and the smell of decay made me want to puke. Stumbling away I said, "Oh God, that's awful, that's so bad!"

Suddenly the hunter was all over it. I watched in awe as he lifted the lid and looked inside at the soupy mess. For a moment he didn't seem at all bothered by the smell, until I saw him make a sniffing motion. He backed away faster than I had. If he had been a real animal of some kind, surely all of his fur would be standing on it's end.

"So you don't like that either, huh?" chuckling a bit, I saw as he seemed almost offended by my comment. Maybe he was a little more human than I was giving him credit for, "How about we get rid of it? You might want to cover your nose though."

Pulling the over-sized shirt over my face, I moved towards the garbage can and began to lift the lid off. Big mistake, my fingers were nearly crushed as he leaped at the can, smashing the lid back down. Instinctively jumping back out of the way, I was tempted to chuckle. He must hate what's been rotting in there more than me. Approaching, I pulled his hands away from the lid, "Just trust me, and cover your face. I'm gonna make it go away."

He turned his face up at me, and hesitated. Slowly he moved away, and put his arm over his face. Taking that as his ready signal, I took in a deep breath and threw the lid off the can. I tied it at lightning speed and pulled the heavy mass loose, running for the door. I threw it open and ran outside, struggling to get the stinking blob over the edge and down into oblivion. I dashed back at through the door and slid it shut, freeing the air I'd held in my lungs and following it with a deep breath.

The stink from the garbage was still permeating the air, but it would fade away with time, "There see? It's gone. It's still a little smelly, but it's gone..." He removed his hand from his face, and after some time searching for one I put a new bag in the garbage, "Ta-dah!" I turned and for some unknown reason, smiled at him. He almost seemed taken aback, but it's hard to tell when you can't see their eyes.

Moving on...

I grabbed the garbage and dragged it out into the living room, beginning to load up the pile of junk that had accumulated in the middle of the floor. I could feel his invisible eyes boring holes into my back, though I did my best to ignore it for now. Halfway through the pile, he wandered over and began to help. Momentarily shocked, I pretended like I didn't notice, choosing instead to lose myself in my thoughts. The shock passed, when I began to feel incredibly comfortable. Cleaning the apartment reminded me of how simple life had been before the infection had hit.

I used to clean with _him_, before we were separated. I was smiling again, it had been more than two weeks since I'd smiled twice in a single day. The time spent cleaning the living room seemed to fly by, and before I knew it I had filled up the new bag. Tyeing it off I stepped out again, looking over the edge. We were really high up there, this building probably had a hundred floors at least. Even so, I could see some curious infected observing the broken garbage bag on the concrete below.

This gave me an idea. I dangled the new bag over the edge, and dropped it in a precise place. It came slamming down onto one of the two or three infected down there, causing the other two to scatter from fear of the random falling object. It gave me a giggle, knowing I'd gotten rid of one of millions by dropping a bag of garbage on it's head.

Going back inside, still smiling, I took note that the living room looked much better. It was still really dusty, and there was some blood spattered on the wall by the bedroom, but I could take care of that later. For now I wanted to organize and get rid of the random garbage strewn about the apartment, starting with any rotten or expired food in the kitchen. While I was going through the fridge and cupboard, I took note of what was there to eat. It would be enough for a week at the most, but some of the things would be risky to cook. I shouldn't use the oven or stove top, for fear of any potential gas leaks elsewhere in the apartment. Death by explosion was not on my list of 'ways to die'. Soon I was picking up broken valuables in the bedroom and organizing the closet. Each time the bag would fill up, I would take it outside and drop it over the edge.

Through the whole process, I could feel his eyes on me. Yet, I didn't feel afraid as I would have if any other infected were staring me down. In fact, it was entirely different. It was almost as if I were a guinea pig in a science experiment, though it didn't lack compassion. I also couldn't seem to get my mind off _him_, and I hadn't thought about it for two weeks at least.

How he went to work, and never came home after everything went down. I waited at that apartment for two days, before the other survivors from my former group had come along and found me. From there, it was all business. All about staying alive. While I cleaned, those prominent survival instincts were replaced by comfort.

Before long, I'd gathered and disposed off all the remaining garbage, and moved on to dusting the furniture. The entire penthouse was being transformed under my hand, from post apocalypse back into something that was seen everywhere before it. A home. It was odd, because the furniture was set up so alike to what it had been at home. It felt so much like the first time I'd told him I loved him... How I was dusting the coffee table and he'd come up to me and took the cleaning supplies from my hands, demanding I take a break.

I stopped a moment and straightened out, noticing that the hunter was standing directly in front of me now. He reached out, and took the cleaning supplies from my hands.

Shock and awe was the only way to describe what was going on in my head. Here I had been thinking about it...

I watched as he approached the T.V. And cleaned the screen. He didn't do a very good job, but it wasn't hard to tell that he was trying. He pressed the power button on the T.V., and stood to face me. Confused, I slowly walked over to him.

'_Could it possibly be...?_'

I reached up for his hood, I had barely grasped the sides of it when he pushed me back – his demeanor taking a one hundred and eighty degree turn. He was growling low, his hands over his hood, crouched down to the floor. From my place on the ground I could tell that the hunter, whoever he was, just wasn't ready for me to see what he used to be... _Who_ he used to be.

And as unlikely as it seemed, just maybe... maybe I'd found the person I'd been looking for for the last two weeks; but I couldn't possibly know until the time came for me to see what his face really looks like.

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**A/N: And there we finally go folks. It's chapter 3! I've finally found the inspiration to write again after quite some time, though this was difficult for me to get out. It took a lot of patience x_x and battles with several writer's blocks parts of the way through. Then again, chapter three always seems to be the hardest for me. **

**Hopefully now, the road will be a little smoother and you'll be seeing more from me soon. Until then, thanks for reading Alone!**


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